GHIT extra: racing lines

I was recently interviewed on the Garage Heroes in Training podcast and they asked me a lot of really interesting questions. I want to follow that up in a series of posts on YSAR where I get into a little more depth on a few topics.

The Racing Line vs. the line you drive while racing

Several of the questions were either directly or indirectly related to the racing line. When most of us think of the line we imagine the path we take through a corner that optimizes our lap time, and in the typical 90° corner this would be the standard outside-inside-outside late apex line that we all know and love. However, in an amateur endurance race, this is almost never the line you want to take. When there are 100 cars on track, there are much more important things to think about than optimizing your lap time.

Grip, line, awareness: pick two

When I’m racing, awareness is always at the top of the list. The only time I’ll let that go is if I look behind me and I can’t see any cars at all. But as soon as I’m in any kind of traffic, my mind set is “how do I position myself in case the drivers around me do something unexpected?” If I’m optimizing awareness, it means I generally can’t drive the typical racing line as I’m positioning the car to avoid potential disaster. But wherever that line happens to be, I’m driving near the limit of grip. Ultimately, when racing, I almost always throw away the line and optimize the other two.

Does the angle at the apex matter?

Another question I was asked was if I thought the angle at the apex was important or was it just good enough to be at the apex. The angle is critical. In the picture below, both cars have reached the apex. Car #1 is going to have to do a lot of steering in order to finish the corner. Car #2 may have to make some steering corrections to prevent itself from spinning. In other words, Car #1 is understeering and Car #2 is oversteering. The angle you arrive at the apex determines how much throttle and steering you can use in the 2nd half of the corner.

If Car #2 doesn’t spin, it will win the race down the following straight. Car #2 is ready to go to full throttle very soon. Car #1 will have to wait a bit. If Car #1 gets impatient and adds throttle too soon, it runs the risk of understeering off the exit.

Most novice and intermediate drivers position themselves like Car #1. Why? Because in order to position yourself like Car #2, you must have oversteer in the first half of the corner. Not throttle-on oversteer, but throttle-off oversteer. Most novice and intermediate drivers spin under such conditions. Because spinning will earn you a black flag and the humiliation/penalties that go along with it, intermediate drivers may find themselves perfecting a driving style that prevents the rear from stepping out. You can be a pretty fast and safe intermediate driver but unless you learn to drive with oversteer, you won’t be as fast or safe as the advanced drivers.

It’s easy to see why driving with oversteer can make you faster, but why safer? Because shit happens on a race track. Shit you can’t foresee, like being forced off track, having a tire blow out, getting hit, or driving through oil. When shit happens, your car control skills save you, not your work-arounds. If you’ve learned how to drive a sliding car, your muscle memory and experience will help you navigate a perilous situation. However, if you’ve learned how to avoid sliding at all costs…